Men of Courage II (21 page)

L
EAH GOT HOME
to a relatively unscathed house. Her spring flowers were flooded and she’d lost a tree in her backyard but other than that, things were shockingly…normal.

Mail was waiting for her on the foyer floor from yesterday, before the storm had hit. She walked by all the boxes she hadn’t yet unpacked and flicked on her answering machine, listening to her boss tell her that Wyatt had called him, telling him of her safety. She’d been given the rest of the day and tomorrow off. For combat leave, her boss joked.

Combat leave. Sounded right, since she felt as if
she’d been at war. She turned on the TV and listened to the reports of people trapped or drowned, of those still missing, of the mayhem and damage. Wyatt was still out there, she thought, saving as many lives as he could, helping people.

Pride filled her, and something else. Affection. Need…

As she sat there in her rented farmhouse, suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly, nothing seemed right. Not her house, not her single lifestyle, nothing.

Not after yesterday, when, as unbelievable as it seemed, being trapped on a houseboat with an ex-lover in a horrifying storm had been the most right thing to happen to her in far too long.

She turned off the news, ate and then stripped out of every stitch of her clothing and got into a scalding shower. After drying off, she got into bed. She needed rest, that was all. A little sleep would get her back on track. Too bad she couldn’t possibly…fall…asleep….

S
HE AWOKE WITH A JERK
. The sun was shining in her eyes from the open blinds. Obnoxiously cheerful birds sang on the other side of the glass. Her clock said 10:00 a.m.

She’d slept all of yesterday afternoon and the entire night without even moving. Stiff, she sat up and realized what had woken her.

Someone was at her front door.

She got out of bed and grabbed her robe from the foot
of the bed. Belting it, she headed to the living room, wondering who would be looking for her. Was it a neighbor needing help? A delivery? She looked out the peephole and froze.

Wyatt stood there looking tall, fierce and impatient, making everything within her quiver. He knocked again and her heart nearly came out of her throat.

“Leah,” he called.

She put a hand on the doorknob, drew a deep breath and slowly opened the door. He held a box from the local pizzeria in one hand, a six-pack of Coke dangled from the other, and he looked more tired than she’d ever seen him. He wore a dark blue T-shirt with a SAR patch on his left pec, the hem untucked from his softly faded jeans. He looked ragged and beat, and her heart rolled over because he also looked like the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

“I got your address from Jimmy,” he said. “Is that okay?”

Unable to speak, she nodded.

“I’m hungry. You?”

“Ravished.” She looked deep into his eyes.

Something in them flickered hot and the flames licked at her insides. She opened the door wider to reveal her silky robe. His gaze swept over her and he stepped close.

She met him halfway. “I was worried about you and how hard you must be working.”

“I’m okay.” His hands were full but he dipped his head and brushed his mouth across her temple. She leaned into him, loving how solid he felt, marveling at how glad she was to see him. Wanting to show him, she tipped her head up and kissed him gently, but he pulled back.

For the longest moment, he just looked at her, and she held her breath. Finally he stepped over the threshold and nudged the door closed with his shoulder. She turned and led him into the kitchen, where he set the pizza box and sodas on the counter.

She reached for him at the same time he reached for her, tunneling his hands into her hair, holding her head still as he took her mouth with his.

Relief filled her at his touch, which was quickly chased by a blaring heat and hunger. When he pulled back this time, neither of them were breathing steadily. “I have no idea why I’m here,” he murmured, touching her jaw.

“Because this is right.” She pressed her face to his throat and breathed him in. “So right.”

He closed his eyes and sank to a chair. “I only have a few hours before I have to go back out.”

He was hollow, exhausted and starving, and he’d come here. To her. “You work so hard.” She sat in his lap. “Let me take care of you for a change.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she nibbled at his lips. “You’re there for everyone else…” She spread warm
kisses over his rough jaw to his ear, which she also nibbled, eliciting a delicious growl from him. “Let me be here for you.”

“Leah.” His hands went to her hips. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.”

“Oh, I can finish this.” She cupped his face and kissed him again, giving him everything she had, going so dizzy from the sweet rush of affection and hunger, she had to hold on to him for dear life. He held on to her, too, sliding his big hands to her hips, grinding her over an impressive erection, kissing her back until she couldn’t remember her own name.

“You can still drive me crazy with just a kiss,” she said, hot and trembly. “Nothing’s changed.”

“Everything’s changed.” Low on her spine, he fisted the material of her robe in his hands, skimming it up until cool air brushed over her bottom. When he cupped bare skin, he groaned and kissed her harder, thrusting up against her, his denim to her naked, already wet flesh. “You still drive me crazy, too,” he admitted. “Loony-bin crazy. You’ll come visit me won’t you?”

She smiled. “I’ll bring you pizza and soda.”

“That’s a girl. Leah, kiss me again.”

“I will.” She lifted his T-shirt, tugging until he raised his arms for her so that she could pull it off. His body took her breath away. Strong, broad, pulsing with life…She kissed his shoulder as she tossed the T-shirt behind
her, then dragged hot, wet, openmouthed kisses down a sinewy pec and licked his nipple.

He sucked in a breath and stood so suddenly she squeaked. Holding her bare bottom in his hands, he shifted and set her on her kitchen table, looking down at her as if she were his dinner.

Her tummy quivered. Her everything quivered.

With characteristic bluntness, he unbelted her robe and pushed the silky material off her shoulders to the floor, running his hot, hot gaze over her. “Your body always made me want to sink to my knees and beg.”

“No begging required.”

His gaze met hers as he settled his hands on her thighs, opening her legs, baring her to him. “I want you. In a bed.”

“I don’t have a condom, Wyatt.”

“The pizza and soda weren’t my only purchases.” Reaching back, he flipped open the pizza box. Inside was a large loaded pizza, and tucked in the corner was a box of condoms.

She stared at them, her thighs trembling. “What if I’d only wanted pizza?”

“Then these would have been lonely.” The half dozen condoms dangled from his fingers.

“I don’t know whether to be nervous or excited.”

“Be both.” He slid an arm around her and lifted her against him.

He followed her directions to the bedroom. Near her bed, he released her so that she slowly slid down his body until her feet touched the floor. Then he crowded into her space, pressing her backward until the backs of her thighs hit her mattress. She sat, and with the excellent vantage point that position afforded her, went to work on his jeans. The waistband was frayed and loose enough that she could skim her fingers just inside. His belly quivered and she bent to kiss his skin while she slowly popped open his buttons.

With the same bluntness he’d used on her, she shoved the denim down his thighs, freeing him. “You’re happy to see me,” she murmured when the proof bounced near her face.

“I’m something—
God,
” he managed to say when she took hold and stroked the length of him. He locked his knees and gritted his teeth. “Leah—I’m not going to last.”

“That’s okay.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the very tip. “You have six condoms….”

He sank his fingers into her hair and tipped her face up. “Open one.”

Because he sounded so very, very tense, her poor abused warrior, she did as he asked. The second she finished sheathing him, he let out a growl and pressed her back, deep into the mattress, coming down over her.

The feel of his hot, heavy body holding her down, his
thighs spreading hers, his hands skimming along her arms, made her heart sing and her body weep. “Now,” she whispered as he ravaged her mouth, taking nips out of her lips, raking his teeth down her throat before shifting lower to a breast. He had such a wonderful mouth, and such a way of using it. “Now, Wyatt,” she begged.

“No, let me—”

“No. Let
me.
” She rolled him to his back, bracing her hands on his shoulders, staring down at his glorious body, her own melting at the sight. “Where were we?”

His fingers dug into her hips for purchase. “Leah—” He choked off the words when she lifted up, wrapped her fingers around him and guided him home. As he sank into her to the hilt, he let out a rough oath and then shuddered. So did she, already halfway gone. “Wyatt…”

His eyes speared hers and for one shocking moment as they stared at each other, something soul-deep and very scary happened.

“Don’t move.” His every muscle was taut and quivering as he held her still, his face in a grimace of pleasure. “God, don’t move—”

“I won’t.” But staying still in that moment was the hardest thing she’d ever done. She wanted to arch and rock and stroke…But somehow she remained utterly still, swamped in the delicious, hungry, hot emotions racing through her body. “Wyatt,” she whispered, lov
ing the feeling of him inside her, filling her almost to the bursting point. “Why did I ever walk away from this?”

“Damned if I know.” Eyes locked on hers, he brushed the pad of his thumb over the damp curls between her spread legs, unerringly finding her sweet spot.

With a gasp, she clutched at him. “I can’t stay still if you do that.”

“No? Okay, then.” He rolled her over, tucking her beneath him again, where he thrust in deep. Their twin moans floated in the air.

“More,” she demanded.

“More,” he promised, and rode her hard and fast and well, until she came explosively, twice, until her breath sobbed in her lungs, until he wrung out his own climax…until neither of them had anything left to give.

T
HEY USED A SECOND CONDOM
in the shower.

And a third on the kitchen table after they’d eaten the pizza.

Wyatt told himself he was still running on pure adrenaline. But deep down he knew it was more than that, much more than basic need. More than he wanted to face.

It was two in the afternoon and he still lay in her bed, holding her so close to him he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began. He stared down into her sleeping face and felt his heart catch.

God, how smug he’d been. Telling her she could have another shot at tearing him up. He’d been so sure that was impossible.

Seemed the joke was on him. Again.

L
EAH WOKE UP WITH A SMILE
on her face, which faded when she realized she was alone. She’d known Wyatt had to go back to work, but that didn’t change the fact that her body yearned to still be wrapped around his.

When he didn’t call that night, she tried to put him out of her head. But since he was already back in her heart, that didn’t help.

He didn’t show up at the TV station the next morning to pilot her around. He was still flying SAR for storm pickup. She and Jimmy reported from the ground all day.

That night she spent long hours unpacking, and
slowly her house began to look like a home. She felt good here, even happy. But then she lay in her bed, alone. Aching for more.

Wyatt still didn’t call and she knew why. He thought he needed the distance, needed to protect his heart. But he was wrong, and the next morning, Saturday, she sought out Jimmy at his house. “I need a favor.”

“For you sweetcakes, anything.”

“Where are SAR’s headquarters?”

He lifted a brow. “You going to make a move on our boy?”

“The address, Jimmy.”

“He flies out of the private airport at the end of Fitch Drive. There’s a hangar there, which SAR has taken over.” He watched her move down his steps toward her car. “Leah? He’s a good guy. I’m happy for you.”

“There’s nothing to be happy for yet.”

He nodded. “Good luck, then.”

She was going to need it. She drove out to the airport, which was small, well cared for and relatively busy. She parked in the lot and walked to the large hangar, which had a Search and Rescue sign on the door.

Inside was a black helicopter with a yellow stripe, one she recognized all too well, and a man standing next to it with a clipboard. He had dark hair, dark eyes and wore the same T-shirt with the SAR patch that Wyatt had
worn the night he’d come to her house. At the sight of her, his eyes widened slightly. “Leah Taylor.”

“Yes,” she said, surprised. “Do I know you?”

“Logan White.” He offered his hand as a broad grin crossed his face. “I’m the guy who deserted you and Wyatt on that houseboat.”

“Ah.”

He laughed. “You look like you’re not sure whether to thank me or slug me.”

She felt a blush creep up her cheeks. “Is Wyatt around?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Disappointment was like a vise around her heart. “Could you tell me where he lives?”

“Sorry, that’s against the rules. Would you like me to tell him you came by?”

“Please.” Disappointed, she turned and headed for the door.

“You’re going to be gentle with him, aren’t you?”

She stopped and glanced back, and saw that Logan’s amusement had vanished, replaced by a genuine worry. “You…know our history,” she said flatly.

“Some. Wyatt isn’t exactly an open book. But I know he’s been messed up since you came back.”

“I’m hoping to fix that, actually,” she said with a small smile. “If he’ll let me.”

“Then maybe you’d like his address.”

“But the rules…”

“I never was that fond of rules.” His smile went kind as he scribbled down Wyatt’s address for her. “He’s going to be pissed at me for meddling, so maybe you could tell him Jimmy gave you the address.”

Jimmy could have told her where Wyatt lived…. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so she did neither but clutched the piece of paper to her heart, kissed Logan on the cheek, and ran to her car.

S
HE
’
D FOUND
W
YATT
’
S HOUSE
, but she still sat in her car, surprised. He lived on the east side of Diamond Lake, the same lake that had nearly claimed their lives. It was an A-frame-style cottage that looked like it’d been very well taken care of, and in fact, sat right next to the large, much newer house from which he’d borrowed the rescue boat. The man who lived there had given her a ride home.

And Wyatt had never said…

Because he’d thought she didn’t want to know about him now? Because he figured she’d only been toying with him?

There was some storm damage to the yard. He’d lost a few trees, and the lake was still so swollen he had to have been worried about flooding over the past few days, but luckily the weather was going to hold, and she believed the worst was behind them.

God, she hoped the worst was behind them.

He didn’t answer her knock but there was a truck in the driveway so she walked around the side of the house to the back. There was a lovely open yard of grass outlined by oaks and elms, and a two-story dock. Someone sat on the upper level with a fishing pole, a silhouette against the setting sun.

Swollen as it was, the lake was eerily calm, so unlike the wild water of the lake a week ago. Her heart started hammering as she walked across the water-soaked grass, her sandals sinking in a little with each step.

She didn’t know what to say, what to do.

Sure you do,
said her little inner voice, out of nowhere, as if it hadn’t utterly deserted her when she’d needed it most.
You know exactly what to do.

At that thought, her heart didn’t exactly settle, but she did lose the urge to throw up. She put her hands on the ladder of the dock. At the top, her sandals went
clunk clunk
on the wood planks, but still he didn’t turn to look at her.

The cat at his feet did though. It was a calico, with one green eye and one brown. “Mew.” It stretched daintily and came to wrap itself around her legs.

She bent to stroke its chin and was rewarded with a steady rumbling purr. Leah fell in instant love with the thing, but it was her love for the man next to it that consumed her right now. “Wyatt.”

“I can’t do it, Leah.” With a flick of his wrist, his fishing line went flying in a graceful arch. He tipped back his head and watched it sail across the setting sun. Then he slowly shook his head and sighed. “I just can’t.”

He spoke with a low resonant tone that made her stomach sink. “Can’t what?”

“Give you another shot at me.” He turned to look at her then and his sad smile nearly broke her. “I really thought I could be casual about it, even cavalier. We could have messed around and kept it friendly. But then we made love. I watched you sleep. We made love again.”

“And again,” she whispered.

A ghost of a real smile curved his lips but it faded quickly. “And I realized the truth. You can’t take another shot at my heart, because you already have it. In the palm of your hand.” He let out a laugh that held no amusement. “How’s that for being easy, huh?” He slowly reeled in his line. “I’d say be kind, but it’s too late for that. All I’m asking now is that you make that same clean fast break you made the first time.”

She could barely speak past the lump in her throat. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to make a clean fast break.”

His grip tightened on his pole. “Leah.” He let out a mirthless laugh. “You’re killing me here.”

“I know.” Moving close, she took his fishing pole and set it down.

His cat protested with a meow, clearly not happy with the interrupted dinner hunt. Leah sympathized but she had to say this. “I don’t want to make any break at all.” She straddled him in the chair, lifting off his baseball cap, sinking her fingers into his hair.

He groaned, a sound she swallowed when she put her mouth to his and kissed him until their breathing got hot and heavy. When he broke off with a tortured sigh and tried to shift her away, she refused to budge. She managed a smile but it wobbled. “You know, I’d have sworn to you I was a risk taker. I mean, look at my life. I left my hometown at eighteen to find fame and fortune. I leaped at dangerous assignments in war zones, political nightmares, gang treaties….” She shook her head. “But it turns out I’m not a risk taker at all. In fact, I’ve never really taken a true risk, not until right this moment.” She gulped a deep breath and tried to smile again. “When I left here, I tried to put it all out of my head. You, what we had, my love for this place….” She cupped his face, stroked her thumbs over his beautiful lips. “But it kept coming back to haunt me, through every job I held, through every man I dated….”

Wyatt had his hands fisted at his sides but they came up to hold her now, a tenderness filling his expression that filled her with such hope, it was a physical ache.

“I’ve fallen in love with being home,” she said. “And I’d say I’ve fallen in love with you, but—”

“I understand,” he said, and closed his eyes.

“But I never fell out of love.”

His eyes flew open. Searched hers.

“I love you, Wyatt. And I always have.” She bit her lip and ran her gaze over his, trying to get a feel for what was going through his mind, but he was not making it easy. His lashes were guarding his eyes from her, and his face gave nothing away. “I know what I’m asking,” she whispered. “God, I know. But do you think you could find it in your heart to—”

“I never stopped, either.”

She went very still, absorbing the way he lifted his warm gaze to hers, how his hands had come to life, stroking up and down her back with affection and heat, curving under her bottom to drag her even closer.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m tired. My mind isn’t as sharp as it should be. Could you—”

“I never stopped loving you.” His fingers squeezed once before skimming back up her body to tunnel into her hair. He gazed at her, feeling as if his heart could burst right out of his chest. “All week I’ve been trying to figure out how to pilot you around for your morning reports without having you rip my heart in two.”

“No more ripping,” she said solemnly, gliding her hands up his chest to fist into his shirt. “Unless it’s the stripping-someone-naked kind of ripping.”

Wyatt felt a little stunned by the love shining in her
eyes. Love for him. He stood, still holding her wrapped around him. “Speaking of naked…”

“Yes.” She began to unbutton his shirt, reverently kissing the smooth skin she exposed. “You’re so gorgeous.”

He stared down into her rapturous face. “We’re not going to make it to my bed if you keep that up.”

“I don’t need a bed. I just need you.” She set her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Wyatt. We’re going to make it this time.”

“I know.” He kissed her temple, the tip of her nose, and then nipped her chin, figuring he was the luckiest son of a bitch on earth. “We raced through this thing once, Leah. What do you say we take our time this round, and do it right?”

She blinked, then bit her lower lip, dismay chasing the elation off her face. “Yeah. You probably need time to make sure—”

“No.” He kissed her softly. “I didn’t say
slow
down. I said take our time. And I meant the rest of our lives, with my ring on your finger, and you in my bed every night, and the kids waking us up at the crack of dawn, and—”

Her face lit up with such love his throat threatened to close. “You mean like ‘I do’?”

“I do.” He grinned, feeling lighter than he had in a good long time. “What do you say?”

She grinned back. “I say I do, too.” Her fingers tightened in his hair until he brought his mouth back to hers. “I do, I do, I do….”